Friday, April 12, 2013

Boise, Idaho was nearly Novak Djokovic's Waterloo

As the prize money in professional tennis has reached
new highs, the distance between the tennis world of us regular folks and
the tennis world of the global tennis stars has sometimes seemed very
great. What do they know about having to play on a questionable court
or with the aches and pains of age? And, do they even remember the pure
joy of playing, separate and apart from the money, the celebrity, the
titles? Leave it to the Davis Cup to remind us that a pure love of the
game of tennis is alive and well even among the greats.

Credited to EPA

Boise,
Idaho, is not known as a tennis mecca, but it was almost Novak
Djokovic's Waterloo. The United States and Serbia were playing their
World Group quarterfinal there. The U.S. had to have been feeling good
about its chances, with Serbia lacking Janko Tipsarevic. If John Isner
and Sam Querrey each beat Victor Troicki, then the Bryan brothers would
seal the deal in doubles. On Day 1, Querrey needed five sets to beat
Troicki, to get the U.S. to 1-1 after Djokovic's win over Isner. The
Bryan brothers were overwhelming favorites against the doubles line-up
of Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac, ranked 334th in singles. But,
Davis Cup makes regular players become great players, at times. That
was the case with Bozoljac, who propelled the Serbs to an improbable
7-6(5), 7-6(1), 5-7, 4-6, 15-13, win over the No. 1 doubles team in the
world.

Credited to USA Today

After
that shock, with the U.S. down 2-1, they needed a near miracle to
capture both reverse singles matches. It would be up to Querrey to
topple Djokovic. But, in the third game of their match, Djokovic
toppled himself, falling to the ground in pain with an ankle injury.
After court side treatment, the mega-fit Djokovic played on, in
noticeable pain, and beat Querrey in four sets. Afterwards, he was
reduced to tears when talking about the injury, unsure of how bad it
really was. [An MRI revealed no long-term injury, but Djokovic is
doubtful for the Monte Carlo Masters.]

It's not easy when we are
in a league match, playing with a sore shoulder or a painful toe, to
think that we have much in common with the No. 1 player in the world.
But, in Boise, Idaho, Novak Djokovic showed the same spirit that all of
us have shown at some point, getting on the court and playing your best
because you love tennis and would rather be on a tennis court playing
this game (no matter your physical state) than just about anywhere else
in the world.